Influenza outbreaks.

Influenza is a virus that causes considerable morbidity and mortality in human populations every year. This fact, coupled with its perceived pandemic potential, means that influenza features prominently in both scientific literature and the media. In this review we focus on the biological assumptions behind theoretical attempts to understand the seasonal and evolutionary dynamics of influenza through mathematical modelling and suggest that the largely unchallenged dogma upon which most efforts are currently based is sorely lacking.